Process of making welt-shoes.



G. W. SMITH.

PROCESS OF MAKING WELT SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 2a, 1914.

Patented Dec. 1, 1914 lnvenTor George W. Smfh bywfwxm ArT'y`s THE NORRIS PETERS Ca., PHOTO-LITHO.. WASHING rON, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. y

GEORGE W. SMITH, OF SWAIVIPSCOTT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 A. E. LITTLE &

COMPANY, 0F

LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, A FIRM.

PROCESS OF MAKING WELT-SHOES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Applicationled August 28, 1914. Serial No. 859,127.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE IV. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Swampscott, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have invented lzin-Improvement in Processes of Making Velt-Shoes, of which the following description, lin connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to welt shoes and has for its object to provide a novel method of making a welt shoe so as to give it the y appearance of a turned shoe having a sole with a thin edge.

A welt shoe has many advantages over a turned shoe, or a so-called McKay shoe, one of the principal advantages being that it has a much longer life than the turned shoe, and if the sole .becomes worn it can be readily removed and a new sole sewed to the welt in place of the old one. felt shoes as commonly made, however, are provided with soles which look rather thick and heavy, this being due to the fact that in the process of making the shoe, the outer sole is sewed to the welt so that when the shoe is completed it presents a sole having the combined thickness of the outsole and the welt. .A

There is in the trade a considerable demand for shoes having a sole with a thin edge which does not project appreciably beyond the upper when the shoe is completed and which is hardly visible. Heretofore shoes having these characteristics have commonly been turned shoes because in shoes of this type no insole is used and the upper is sewed directly to the outsole by stitches situated within the upper, and it is, therefore, possible to use very thin soles which have a correspondingly thin edge, a turned or McKay shoe, however, does not have the wearing qualities of a welt shoe, and my invention has for its object to provide a welt shoe which has a sole with a thin edge and has all the desirable qualities, so far as appearance is concerned, of a thinedged turned shoe and yet which has all the advantages of a welt shoe.

In the drawings, wherein I have illustrated the various steps in the manufacture of a shoe embodying my invention, Figure 1 is a sectional view through ashoe showing the upper and welt sewed to the insole;

lEig. 2 is a sectional view through the outer sole which has been prepared ready to be attached to the welt;v Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the outer sole sewed to the welt; F ig. Lis a view similar to Fig. 3 showingthe Hap of the outer sole laid against the body7 thereof; Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the completed shoe.

My improved shoe is formed with the insole 1 to which the upper 2 and welt 3 are sewed, as usual, by inseam stitches 5, and the outsole 4 which is sewed to the welt by outseam stitches 6, as usual in welt shoes. rIhe insole 1 is provided with the channel 7 to form the lip 8 to receive the inseam stitches 5, and in the practice of my invention I propose to form the channel 7 at a greater distancel fromthe edge 9 of the insole l than is customary in making welt shoes` and to cut the channel from the bottom of the insole in an outwardly and upwardlyinclined direction so that when the lip 8 is turned up it will be turned toward the edge of the insole. I also propose to rabbet the edge of the sole, as shown at 10, so as to make a comparatively thin feather f edge portion exterior to the lip 8. After the nsole has thus been formed the welt 3 and upper 2 are sewed to the lip 8 by the inseam stitches 5 which lie in the channel 7, said inseam stitches being so inserted asl to pass out through the insole 9 through the shoulder portion 11 formed by the rabbet 10. By this means the upper and the welt are drawn closely against the thin edge of the insole and into the rabbeted portion 10. After the upper and welt are thus sewed to the insole the inner projecting edge of the upper and the welt are trimmed off in usual manner and a filling 12 is applied to the bottom' of the insole, as usual, and then the out sole A is sewed to the welt as usual in welt shoes.

Patented nec. 1, 1914.. I

In order to secure a shoe having a sole with a thin edge, I propose to use an outsole 4 of special construction. Before being sewed to the welt the outsole A is channeled or split from its marginal edge near its under face, as shown at 13, thereby to form the flap 16 on its outer face, and the body portion of'the outsole is beveled from the inner edge of the channel or slit 13 to the peripheral edge 14 at the top of the outsole, as shown at 15. This operation of forming the beveled or chamfered portion 15 can be accomplished at thel same time that the channel or slit 13 is formed by employing a suitable channeling knife.

It will be noted that the outside is slit or channeled from its outer marginal edge so that the flap 16 extends to the edge of the outsole, and the grain surface oi' the leather extentie clear to the edge of the flap. The flap 16 is then turned back, as shown in Fig. 3, and the outsole is sewed to the welt by the outseam stitches 6. In performing this operation, I propose to locate the outseam stitches as closely as possible adjacent the outer edge ot the insole, and to place said stitches at a slight angle, as shown in Fig. 3. Where the outseam stitches 6 are thus placed well in close to the upper, it is not necessary to employ a welt of very great width, and in the completed shoe the welt will not project beyond the sides of the last. These outseam stitches 6 extend through the beveled edge only of the outsole and are laid in the channel 13. After the outsole is thus sewed to the welt the flap 16 is laid against the beveled surface 15, as shown in Fig. el, thus covering the outseam stitches 6. Since the flap is formed by channeling from the outer marginal edge 01": the sole, the grain surface of the outsole will extend clear to the edge thereof, and the channel 13 is not visible from the bottom of the sole. Moreover, because of the bevel 15 the shoe thus made presents an edge portion which is only the thickness ot the welt 3 and the flap 16, this being so because the bevel 15 will preferably be carried to the peripheral corner 14 so that the beveled portion of the sole presents a sharp edge and will not add to the thickness of the sole at the extreme periphery thereof.

In order to reduce still further the appearance of any appreciable thickness to the edge of the sole of the shoe as thus made, I propose to roll the edges of the outsole and turn the edges upwardly slightly against the upper, as shown in Fig. 5. When this operation is completed the welt 3 and the edge of the outsole will be curved upwardly slightly so as to cause the welt to tightly hug the upper and thereby entirely conceal Copies o! this patent may be obtained for ve cents the outseam stitches 6. This operation tends also to roll the flap 16 firmly against the beveled surface 15 and to spread the tlap slightly thereby thinning it somewhat, this result being illustrated in Fig. 5 wherein the flap 16 appears to have a somewhat thinned edge. By this means the sole of the shoe presents a thin appearance and the edge of the sole is caused to lie closely against the upper, thus giving the shoe all the appearance of a turned shoe. The bottcm of the sole ot the completed shoe will, oi' course, be rounded somewhat at the edges, but this is no detriment as turned shoes are frequently made vwith a sole, the bottom of which is more or less rounded. A shoe made in accordance with this invention has all the appearance of an ordinary turned shoe with a. thin edge which lies close to the upper, but at the same time it is built like a welt shoe and, therefore, has all the advantages of a welt shoe.

I claim:

lIhe process of making a welt shoe with a thin-edged sole consisting of forming the insole with a channel situated well in from the edge thereof, securing the welt and upper to the insole, providing an outsole which is split or channeled from its marginal edge adjacent its outer face, and the body of which is beveled from the bottom of the channel to the upper peripheral corner, sewing the outsole to the welt by stitches which pass through the beveled edge of the outsole and are situated closely adjacent the outer edge ot the insole, laying the lap formed by the channel to cover the stitches, and then applying pressure to the edge of the outsole to roll the latter and the welt upwardly closely against the upper thereby to conceal the outseam stitches.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE W. SMITH.

l/Vit'nesses Louis C. SMITH, THOMAS J. DRUMMOND.

each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, I?. C. 

